Kaeding...... Did you miss me?

Nate Kaeding has been kicking for three weeks and is confident he will be better than ever when he returns as the Chargers placekicker in 2012.

Yes, when he returns.

“I absolutely expect to come in and pick up where I left off,” said Kaeding, who missed all but the first play of 2011 with a torn ACL in his left knee.

Indeed, discussions with those who have a hand in personnel decisions at Chargers Park indicate that Nick Novak might have kicked himself out of a job while Kaeding didn’t get a chance to.

If there does remain any question over whether Kaeding will be handed the job back prior to training camp -- as there appears to be a reluctance to carry two kickers during the summer -- it would center around the disparity in salaries due Kaeding ($2 million) and Novak ($700,000).

But dependability is priceless. And while it remains what insiders categorized as among the most intriguing of the offseason decisions the team must make, it appears almost certain that the Chargers will go with Kaeding next season.

That is an entirely different route than those inside the building would have expected a couple months ago.

Novak made his first 12 field goals after being signed in the season’s second week, and he converted 17 of his first 18 field goal tries. He finished the season having made a team-record 11 placements from beyond 40 yards, including four from beyond 50. But he missed six of his final 16 attempts, including two (from 48 and 53 yards) in a three-point loss to Denver and tries from 37 and 44 yards over the final three weeks.

It was that finish that tipped the support going forward toward Kaeding, whose 86.5 percent success rate is highest in NFL history.

Kaeding is, in fact, sort of the Marty Schottenheimer of kickers – tough to beat in the regular season but routinely struggles once the calendar turns to January. And much like former Chargers general manager John Butler did when he hired Schottenheimer as head coach in 2002, the Chargers will hope Kaeding can help them to the playoffs -- and they’ll worry about what he does when he gets there.

Kaeding’s success rate is an abysmal 53.3 percent in the playoffs. Of his seven misses in 15 attempts, five have come in three different three-point playoff losses.

“There is no doubt it’s the one most frustrating thing about my body of work coming into now,” Kaeding said Tuesday. “I’ve just got to work the right way, commit to the process, take the lessons I’ve learned … I can’t explain how excited I am to go and get a chance in the next postseason to kick and to execute those kicks.”

After missing three field goals in a 17-14 playoff loss to the New York Jets following the 2009 season, Kaeding had essentially been on notice the past two years that his next postseason opportunity would be an audition for his job.

But the Chargers did not make the postseason in 2010, and Kaeding tore his ACL trying to make a tackle on the opening kickoff of 2011.

He had surgery three days later to repair the ligament and to “clean up” some other minor issues in the knee, and he spent the next four months progressing from bending his knee in September to actually kicking by the end of December.

“It feels good,” Kaeding said. “I think we’re ahead of schedule.”

His plan is to continue to go hard this month and then taper off before returning to a regular offseason in March. He needs to work on his explosiveness in both legs and his stamina.

But after a 2011 preseason he said unequivocally was his “best ever” and some time away this year to take “a detailed look at every little aspect of what it takes to be a successful placekicker in this league,” he believes he will be improved.

“It’s re-energized me,” Kaeding said. “… If anything, the injury made me a better football player. It made me a more humble player, and in a weird way it made me a more confident player. I was able to step back and assess the things it takes to be successful.”

I hope that both of our kickers were watching these two playoff games, especially since both games were decided by a field goal. One a miss, and one a made field goal. What kind of lesson to be learned here?

I hope that both of our kickers were watching these two playoff games, especially since both games were decided by a field goal. One a miss, and one a made field goal. What kind of lesson to be learned here?

By MJD | Shutdown Corner– 10 hours ago
Is there no safe place left on this earth for Billy Cundiff?
Not even the Ravens' very own website can stop from poking Cundiff with a sharp stick. This wasn't a message board or a comments section, either ‒ it wasn't even an editorial piece. It was the team's web store.
Of course, the organization might still be a bit bitter about the 32-yard field goal Cundiff missed at the end of the AFC championship game. That miss prevented a tie that would have taken the game to overtime in the New England Patriots' eventual 23-20 win, but the pass Lee Evans lost in the end zone on that same drive would have put the Ravens in the Super Bowl, and you don't see mean things about Evans in the web store.
It's a rough life, this kicking thing.
The relevant and mean portion is highlighted at the bottom left.

Billy Cundiff web store​

That's terrible. And I'm not even talking about charging over $100 for a youth Billy Cundiff jersey.Gracias, Jockular.

I would be hard pressed to put not making the playoffs on having or not having Kaeding. There were too many things that went wrong that colaborated to create the no-playoff season IMHO.

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Well considering Novak missed 2 game winning FG's, and either one of those would've put us in, that's enough for me. Especially considering some of the Kaeding haters celebrated his injury, they got what they asked for. I don't need to hear about how Rivers' fumble at KC was the difference as we don't even know if Novak would've made that kick.

Well considering Novak missed 2 game winning FG's, and either one of those would've put us in, that's enough for me. Especially considering some of the Kaeding haters celebrated his injury, they got what they asked for. I don't need to hear about how Rivers' fumble at KC was the difference as we don't even know if Novak would've made that kick.

It all comes down to converting your chances... Novak didn't.

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Which receiver missed a drive extending catch in those games? Which LB missed a drive extending tackle in those games? TEAM lost those game, Rivers included...

Well considering Novak missed 2 game winning FG's, and either one of those would've put us in, that's enough for me. Especially considering some of the Kaeding haters celebrated his injury, they got what they asked for. I don't need to hear about how Rivers' fumble at KC was the difference as we don't even know if Novak would've made that kick.

It all comes down to converting your chances... Novak didn't.

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Sorry Novak did not cost us a playoff ..... We were way far from a FG away from doing anything this season.